The General Prologue and The Physician's Tale
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Narrated by:
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Richard Bebb
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Philip Madoc
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Michael Maloney
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By:
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Geoffrey Chaucer
About this listen
The Canterbury Tales, written near the end of Chaucer's life and hence towards the close of the 14th century, is perhaps the greatest English literary work of the Middle Ages: Yet it speaks to us today with almost undimmed clarity and relevance.
How do we know what Chaucer's English sounded like? The simplest way for the present reader to learn what Chaucer's pronunciation sounded like is to listen to Richard Bebb's superb reading of the current recording of The General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales. The knowledge it represents has been built up by the work of many scholars over centuries, which is now available in many competent studies and editions of Chaucer's poems.
The Physician's Tale is in origin a primitive folk tale about an "honor killing" that Chaucer found in Livy and elsewhere and enhanced. The wicked judge Apius wishes to abduct and rape the beautiful and virtuous Virginia, aged 14. Her father cannot save her. Rather than be dishonored, she allows him, to his utter grief, to behead her. But the people rise up against the cruel and wicked judge so that he is banished and his subordinates hanged. The rather strange moral drawn is that your sin will always find you out.
Presented in Middle English and in modern verse translation.
Download the accompanying reference guide.©2005 Naxos Audiobooks, Ltd. (P)2005 Naxos Audiobooks, Ltd.Listeners also enjoyed...
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This fine recording includes two versions of the same story from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and each is equally intriguing. Richard Bebb provides the voice for the Middle English presentation. Bebb reads the "Prologue" and "The Physician's Tale" with such sincerity and skill that the unfamiliar pronunciations soon becomes lyrical to the modern ear. The early version is a fascinating contrast to the modern version, read by Philip Madoc and Michael Maloney. Madoc and Maloney are both gifted with mellifluous voices, making the modern presentation of the two works equally engaging.
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- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
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Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
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Starship Troopers
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids. Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job.
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The definitive version!
- By Kristopher G. Hesson on 10-03-24
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Dead Med
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso, Scott Merriman
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When Heather McKinley dreamed of becoming a doctor, she imagined curing sick kids and sporting pink stethoscopes. She never anticipated the sleepless nights, grueling exams, and endless labs. And she certainly never knew that her medical school earned the nickname Dead Med thanks to the tragic history of students overdosing on illegal drugs. But Heather would never consider doing anything like that. That is, until her longtime boyfriend dumps her, she finds herself failing anatomy, and her world starts to crumble.
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Hmm
- By Morgan Meaux on 08-22-24
By: Freida McFadden
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Read in a mixture of Middle-English and modern English, The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.
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Terrible Recording Quality
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Four more delightful tales from one of the most entertaining storytellers of all time. Though writing in the thirteenth century, Chaucer’s wit and observation comes down undiminished through the ages, especially in this accessible modern verse translation. The stories vary considerably from the uproarious Wife of Bath’s Tale, promoting the power of women to the sober account of patient Griselda in the Clerk’s Tale.
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The Pardoner's Tale
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Three tales from The Canterbury Tales, read in the original Middle English by Richard Bebb under the direction of Britain's foremost Chaucer scholar, Derek Brewer.
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great fun
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The Canterbury Tales
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Overall
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Performance
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Chaucer's greatest work, written towards the end of the fourteenth century, paints a brilliant picture of medieval life, society and values. The stories range from the romantic, courtly idealism of "The Knight's Tale" to the joyous bawdy of the Miller's; all are told with a freshness and vigor in this modern verse translation that make them a delight to hear.
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Abridged
- By Tad Davis on 10-28-22
By: Geoffrey Chaucer
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- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
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-
Overall
-
Performance
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The Knight's Tale of medieval wars and chivalry is the first tale told to the pilgrims as they set out to Canterbury. It concerns Theseus, returning from fighting at Thebes, and two brother knights Palamon and Arcite, imprisoned but yearning for their loves. But the real hero of this recording is Richard Bebb who, with the help of Professor Derek Brewer, the leading expert on Chaucerian pronunciation, make the original Middle English not only comprehensible to the modern ear, but exciting.
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Great recording
- By Kotzer on 06-25-19
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The Canterbury Tales
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- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Narrated by: uncredited
- Length: 22 hrs and 21 mins
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Overall
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Lively, absorbing, often outrageously funny, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is a work of genius, an undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for each generation of readers. The Tales gathers 29 of literature's most enduring (and endearing) characters in a vivid group portrait that captures the full spectrum of medieval society, from the exalted Knight to the humble Plowman. This unabridged work is based on the new translation.
-
-
Lack of coherant "chapters"
- By Jensophie on 02-24-10
By: Geoffrey Chaucer
-
The Canterbury Tales
- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Narrated by: Neville Coghill, Cecil Trouncer, Robert Ross
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Read in a mixture of Middle-English and modern English, The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.
-
-
Terrible Recording Quality
- By Michael on 09-17-10
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The Canterbury Tales II
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- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
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By: Geoffrey Chaucer
-
The Pardoner's Tale
- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Narrated by: Richard Bebb
- Length: 2 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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-
-
great fun
- By Dorothea on 04-11-08
By: Geoffrey Chaucer
-
The Canterbury Tales
- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Narrated by: Philip Madoc, Edward de Souza
- Length: 3 hrs and 21 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chaucer's greatest work, written towards the end of the fourteenth century, paints a brilliant picture of medieval life, society and values. The stories range from the romantic, courtly idealism of "The Knight's Tale" to the joyous bawdy of the Miller's; all are told with a freshness and vigor in this modern verse translation that make them a delight to hear.
-
-
Abridged
- By Tad Davis on 10-28-22
By: Geoffrey Chaucer
What listeners say about The General Prologue and The Physician's Tale
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Celia
- 09-14-08
Workmanlike reading in clear Middle English
The General Prologue is read rather slowly and clearly, making it pretty easy for a modern English speaker to understand (especially if you have a written version to follow along with), but not making it an especially enjoyable dramatic performance. The Tale of the Physician is faster and more exciting. Both readings in the original Middle English are followed by a reading in a modern English translation. If you ever doubted how much better Chaucer is in the original, hearing him back-to-back in Middle English and then in modern English makes the point. If you will forgive the comment and just to prevent anybody else being confused, Beowulf is an Old English (Anglo-Saxon) chant or song about Norse heroes and dragons, nothing remotely like this 14th century poem of English pilgrims telling a mix of folk stories and bawdy jokes.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Mary
- 11-05-07
mixed feelings
I studied Middle English while completing my graduate degree in English, and looked forward to hearing these in that version. While it is good to hear them, I was disappointed at the comparative monotone. The speaker does not seem to get into the spirit of the narration. I realize he is reading a "foreign language" and sympathize, but still it is disappointing. Part of the disappointment reflects on a live performance of Beowulf by Ben Bagley, which I still remember after a few years.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-25-22
I have no idea
I don’t know what they’re saying in Middle English but it sounds really great! lol
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Mike
- 09-21-09
WTF
Well, i didn't study Middle English and didn't realize this audiobook wasn't in English. Audible needs to be specific about this kind of thing. The whole experience was brutal.
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1 person found this helpful